Family alleges foul play in Jammu soldier’s death, seeks probe

The mother of the deceased soldier asked if it was possible for the deceased to shoot himself twice.

Outraged over the death of a young soldier under mysterious circumstances in Uri sector on Thursday, his family members placed his body at the busy Satwari Chowk in Jammu and disrupted traffic movement for over two hours on Saturday afternoon.

Family members and relatives of Indian Army Rifleman Rakshit Chowdary block the Satwari Chowk during a protest demanding an inquiry into his death. (PTI Photo)

The deceased soldier has been identified as 21-year-old rifleman Rakshit Choudhary, son of Kuldeep Singh of Barota Camp in Ramgarh sector of Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir.

His family was presently putting up in Sanjay Nagar area of Jammu city.

“My son had a passion to join the army. He was a C certificate holder and a pass out from MAM college. How could he kill himself? I talked to him that morning at 8 am and he sounded cheerful. He was a bachelor and had no problem back home,” said mother of the deceased.

The family was outraged on Saturday morning when the body arrived in a private vehicle escorted by two soldiers, dressed in civilian clothes, and headed to their homes on leave.

“My son can never take his own life and how can a person fire two gunshots to end one’s life,” she asked.

The family complained that the deceased soldier should have been sent home with full military honours and demanded the status of a martyr for him.

His mother also demanded a second post-mortem and an independent probe to bring out the truth, alleging a cover-up.

Former sarpanch of Barota village Prem Pal said that the Indian Army was hiding something.